Pill container and dispenser



0d. 1, 7 A. SCHLESSER 2,808,150

PILL CONTAINER AND DISPENSER Filed March 21, 1955 United States Patent 2,808,150 7 PILL CONTAINER AND DISPENSER Adolph Schlesser, Glendale, Calif.

Application March 21, 1955, Serial No. 495,634

2 Claims. (Cl. 20642) This invention relates to a container for pills, tablets, capsules and the like and for dispensing same in predetermined quantity in accordance with the needs of the individual. I

An object of the invention is to provide a container which is light, attractive and conveniently portable and from which a specified dosage represented by one or more pills, tablets or capsules, may be readily dispensed without exposing others comprising the contents.

Another object of the invention is to provide a container for a multiplicity of medicinal doses in which each unit of a does is maintained separated from others at all times and in which but one dose only may be ejected or removed from the container at one time.

A further object of the invention is to provide a receptacle or container for pills, tablets and capsules which is water and moisture proof and which may be readily replenished when empty.

Further objects and advantages will appear from the following specification in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. l is an elevational view, partly in section, the section taken on line 11 of Fig. 2, showing the receptacle and its component parts.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the receptacle.

Fig. 3 is an elevational view, partly in section, of the top or cover, the section being taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 4 is a bottom view of the cover indicated by the line 4-4 on Fig. 3.

My invention in general comprises a receptacle and a cover or lid co-operating therewith to enclose the receptacle and rotatable relatively thereto on the perimeter thereof to dispense the articles in said receptacle in limited amounts and periodically.

Specifically my invention includes a disk having in the face thereof and near the edge a circular groove 11. The face of said disk is provided with a plurality of radial segments or members 12 at right angles to the plane of said disk and integral therewith, said members being relatively and regularly spaced to provide a plurality of openended radial chambers or divisions 13 for pellets, pills, tablets, capsules and the like that may be conveniently carried on the person and dispensed from said chambers periodically, as required.

The radial segmental members 12 are substantially wedge-shape, the apexes 14 of which extend toward or to the center of the disk 10, which in this instance is a post or bafile 15 preferably integral with said segments and disk 10 and forming the rear of said chambers, which are open at the top and front. The post or bafile, prevents the contents of one chamber or compartment from passing into an opposite or adjacent chamber.

The bases or outer faces 16 of the wedge-shape segments 12, are arcuate in conformity with the circularity of the disk 10 and are each provided centrally thereof with projections or detents 17, that substantially define the inner border of the groove 11, heretofore mentioned.

2,808,150 Patented Oct. 1, 1957 "ice ' bers, which withthespaced segments 12 constitutes the receptacle, to enclose the same and facilitate dispensation periodically therefrom of a dose or doses of pills, pellets, capsules and the like, as needed by the individual, is a cover 18 having a cylindrical wall integral therewith and at right angles thereto provided with an opening or cutout 21 of a width and height conforming substantially to the height and width of one of the chambers or compartments 13' and to the height and width of each base or outer face of the segmental members. Through this opening the contents of any of the compartments or chambers between the radial segments may be dispensed, by tiltin'g'the container when said cover is rotated to bring the opening 21 in register with any of said chambers.

The integral cylindrical wall 20 of the cover 18 is inherently resilient and is provided with a thin circular tongue 22 at the peripheral edge thereof that extends beyond the bottom thereof and is adapted to fit in the groove 11, while the bottom 23 of said circular wall rests and is adapted to ride upon the wall of said groove 11 and guide the cover in its rotation relative to the receptacle.

A portion of the inner face of the integral cylindrical wall 20 of the cover 18 is thickened to a small extent on each side of the opening 21 and these thickened portions 20' are each provided with a plurality of depressions 24 which are on the inner faces thereof and are spaced apart a distance equal to the width of the opening 21 in said cylindrical wall and also to the width of each base or outer face of the segments 12. These depressions, by reason of the inherent resilience of said cylindrical wall are adapted to snap upon said detents 17 of the wedge shaped segments to maintain the cover in a position in which the opening 21 in said wall 20 is in register with any one of the chambers 13. The accidental rotation of said cover, therefore, and the consequent loss of the contents of the chambers, when the opening is in register with a chamber is prevented.

However, the purposed rotation of said cover relative to the base to effect registration of the opening 21 in said wall 20 with one of the chambers to expose and enable the contents thereof to be removed, will cause the depressions in the wall 20 to snap free of the detents 17, and this position will be maintained'until the cover is rotated to a degree where the opening 21 in the wall thereof is opposite a base or outer face 16 of one of the segments, at which time the depressions 24 will have interlocked with the detents 17 on the outer face of the segments, thus closing and maintaining closed all of said chambers. It will be noted that the depressions on the inside of the cylindrical Wall and on opposite sides of the opening therein co-operate with the detents on the segmental faces at one time to open and hold open a chamber and at another time to close and hold all of said chambers closed. It will also be noted that by the cooperation of detents and depressions, the association of the cover with the compartmented base is assured and that separation of the two parts of the container, when required for any reason, may be effected by a slight pull on either the cover or the'disk or both and that their reassociation may be effected conveniently and quickly by a slight pressure on the companion parts.

What I claim is:

l. A disk having near the circumferential edge thereof a groove and a plurality of circumferentially arranged radial segments at right angles to said disk and equidistantly spaced to provide a plurality of chambers terminating near the center of said disk and being open at the front and top; the bases of said segments being inward from the circumferential groove in said disk and having projections centrally thereof; and a cover for the top of said chambers having a cylindrical wall at right angles thereto to cover the front of said chambers, said cylindrical wall having an opening therein provided with a thickened portion at each side. of said opening andhaving depressions therein for co-operation with the projections on said bases to hold said cylindrical wallof said cover associated with said segments by the inherent resilience of said wall, the edge of said cylindrical portion a cylindrical wall at theedge thereof to cover the front of said chambers, said cylindrical wall having an opening therein in width and height equal to the width and height of a chamber and a segment and provided with an inner thickened portion at each side of said opening, said thickened portions having a pair of depressions therein spaced apart a-distance equal substantially to the width of one of said chambers or the face of one of said segbeing engaged in said circumferential groove and adapted to be rotated therein at one time to bring the opening in said cylindrical member in register with each chamber and at another time to move said opening out of register with said chamber and maintain all of said chambers closed, including the emptied chamber.

2. A disk having near the edge thereof a circumferential groove and a plurality of circumferentially arranged radial segments atright angle to said disk and equidistantly spaced to provide a plurality ofchambers which terminate near the center of said disk and are open at the front and top, the width of each chamber heing substantially equal to the width of each of said segments; said segments having projections centrally of the faces thereof; and a cover for the top of said chambers having said chambers and at another time with the faces of said segments to close all of said chambers and hold same closed.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 11,680,130 cal er Aug. 1, 1928 1,737,643 Conner et al. Dec. 3, 1929 7 2,236,224 Raschkind Mar. 25, 1941 

